Wei ilan lowered her gaze slightly, her fingers tightening around the tea cup in her hands.
"It was not that simple," she said quietly.
Fu Sheng remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
Wei ilan let out a faint breath before speaking again.
"Even after I got pregnant..." she said softly, "no man wanted anymore."
The room fell quiet.
Her voice remained calm, but there was bitterness hidden beneath it now.
"After all, I was already deflowered," she continued. "And the entire village knew the child belonged to a man who had gone to war."
Fu Sheng’s expression darkened slightly.
Wei ilan looked down at the tea in front of her.
"Your parents ca to my house," she said. "More than once."
Fu Sheng’s gaze shifted slightly.
"They wanted to pay my bride price," she continued quietly. "They wanted to marry into the Fu family properly and wait for your return."
For the first ti since entering the house, genuine surprise appeared faintly in Fu Sheng’s eyes.
Wei ilan gave a faint smile.
"But my parents refused."
Her voice softened slightly.
"I was their only child," she said. "They did not want becoming a widow before even getting married."
The lantern flickered softly between them.
"At that ti, everyone believed you were already dead," she added quietly. "Even I..."
She stopped briefly.
Then continued.
"Even I began to lose hope."
Fu Sheng remained completely silent.
Wei ilan leaned back slightly, her gaze distant now, as though she was looking at mories far away from this room.
"After so ti," she said softly, "another man ca."
Fu Sheng’s jaw tightened slightly.
"He knew about the pregnancy," she continued. "And he was still willing to marry ."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Fu Sheng’s gaze remained fixed on her face.
Wei ilan lowered her eyes again.
"My parents thought it was a blessing," she said quietly. "They said no woman in my position would ever get another chance like that."
A bitter smile appeared briefly on her lips.
"So in the end... I agreed."
The silence that followed felt unbearably heavy.
Then Fu Sheng finally spoke.
"But you still left the children behind."
Wei ilan froze slightly.
Pain flashed across her expression before disappearing again.
"You think I did not want to take them with ?" she asked softly.
Her voice trembled slightly for the first ti that night.
"The man was willing to marry ," she continued quietly, "but he refused to raise another man’s children."
Fu Sheng’s fingers tightened slowly.
Wei ilan looked away.
"My parents begged to agree," she said. "They said if I refused again, no one else would ever want ."
The lantern light flickered across her face, revealing exhaustion buried deep beneath her calm expression.
"I was scared," she admitted quietly.
The room beca silent again.
Then after a long pause, she looked back at Fu Sheng with tired eyes.
"So yes," she said softly. "I left them behind."
"And I have regretted it every single day since then."
The room fell quiet after her words.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
The lantern burned softly between them, and the faint sound of the wind outside brushed lightly against the windows.
Then suddenly—
A small voice called out sleepily from the inner room.
"Mother..."
Wei ilan paused imdiately and turned her head.
A young boy stood near the doorway leading further into the house. His hair was ssy from sleep, and his eyes were still half-closed as he rubbed them tiredly.
He could not have been older than five or six.
The mont he noticed there was soone else in the room, he stopped walking.
His sleepy gaze landed on Fu Sheng curiously.
Wei ilan’s expression softened slightly when she saw him.
"Why are you awake?" she asked gently.
The boy yawned quietly before answering.
"I could not find you."
Wei ilan stood up slowly and walked toward him.
"I will co soon," she said softly as she crouched slightly in front of him. "Go back inside first."
The boy nodded slowly.
But before leaving, he looked at Fu Sheng once more.
Curious and confused.
Then without saying anything else, he turned and disappeared back into the inner room.
The mont he was gone, silence returned.
Fu Sheng’s gaze remained fixed on the direction the child had left from.
Then after a mont, he finally spoke.
"Are they your current husband’s children?" he asked quietly.
Wei ilan stood still for a brief mont.
Then she turned back toward him.
And what she said next completely caught him off guard.
"No," she replied calmly.
Fu Sheng frowned slightly.
Wei ilan lowered her gaze briefly before continuing.
"They are my late husband’s children."
The room instantly beca still.
Fu Sheng looked at her in silence, clearly shocked.
Wei ilan walked back slowly and sat down once more.
"My husband died three years after we got married," she said quietly.
Her voice carried no dramatics.
Only exhaustion.
Fu Sheng stared at her for several monts.
"You beca a widow anyway," he said softly.
Wei ilan gave a faint laugh at that.
A bitter one.
"Yes," she replied.
Her fingers brushed lightly against the tea cup again.
"It seems my parents’ fears still ca true in the end."
Fu Sheng remained silent.
For the first ti that night—
He no longer knew what to say.
Wei ilan lowered her gaze slightly after those words.
For a mont, she remained silent, as though deciding whether or not to continue.
Then she finally spoke again.
"After my husband died..." she said quietly, "I was sent to the barren lands with the children."
Fu Sheng’s expression shifted slightly.
Wei ilan gave a faint smile, though there was no happiness in it.
"It is ironic, is it not?" she asked softly. "After everything my parents did to stop from becoming a widow... I still ended up becoming one."
The lantern flickered quietly beside them.
Fu Sheng remained silent and allowed her to continue.
Wei ilan leaned back slightly in her chair, her eyes distant.
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